Chapter 178: Luo Shaotian’s Request

The image on the screen finally froze on a scene of deathly silent ruins.

As the progress bar reached the end, the tablet’s screen went dark, reflecting Luo Shaotian’s face—pale as paper.

The air seemed to congeal.

For a long moment—

Luo Shaotian looked as if all strength had been drained from his body. He slumped forward, lowered his head, buried both hands into his hair, and clutched his head tightly.

“So… you all knew everything already…”

His voice was muffled beneath his palms.

“Yes. Although, in order to protect the privacy of the parties involved, some non-essential footage was personally edited out by Director Bai.”

Guangu Jun pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, his tone as calm as if he were delivering a quarterly report.

“However, from the moment you entered the exhibition center, to the brutal killing of multiple Akagi Gang members and the Abyssal Chanter, and finally to your head-on confrontation with that high-tier pollution source… the entire process was captured in full clarity.”

Edited?

Luo Shaotian had noticed it.

There was a clear jump in the video’s timeline at a critical point.

That segment—

The part where he lost control, pinned Lulu down like a wild beast, and nearly committed an act worse than an animal…

It was gone.

It seemed that the unseen Director Bai was, at the very least, a man of principles.

Whether it was to protect his own employee’s privacy, or to preserve the image of a magical girl…

At the very least, he had left this man—who had nearly fallen into depravity—one final scrap of dignity.

If that footage had been shown as well…

“Hah…”

He let out a long breath of turbid air, lifted his head, and the last trace of resistance in his eyes faded away with it.

Man is the chopping block; I am the fish.

Since even this last layer of underwear had been stripped away, putting on a show of resistance would only be laughable.

“So… what exactly do you want me to do to cooperate?”

Luo Shaotian slumped back onto the bed and asked weakly.

“Although I don’t know what that monster in the video was about, the current me… is just an ordinary man.”

He spread his hands and gave a self-mocking smile.

“Even if you slice me up for research… what could you possibly find?”

“You can rest assured on that front. Dawn Company possesses the industry’s top technical team. Naturally, we have ways to excavate the treasures within your body.”

Guangu Jun maintained his professional smile.

He pulled out a thick document from his briefcase and placed it with both hands on the table in front of Luo Shaotian.

“However, before we formally begin… we’ll need you to sign this first.”

“What’s this? A contract selling myself?”

Luo Shaotian glanced at the document.

“No. It is a rigorous, lawful contract protected by the law.”

Guangu Jun kept smiling and made a “please” gesture.

Half-skeptical, Luo Shaotian picked it up and casually flipped through a few pages.

Just as the man had said, the contract was impeccably standardized.

Party A and Party B, rights and obligations, liability for breach…

Every clause was detailed and professional.

And when he reached the final provisions—

When his gaze swept over the “Labor Compensation” section on the last page—

Even his pupils couldn’t help but shrink slightly.

【One Million Yuan】

For a police officer, this was undoubtedly a colossal sum.

Staring at that string of zeros, a familiar face surfaced in Luo Shaotian’s mind—

That face that always wore a somewhat lecherous grin.

If that money-grubber saw this number,

His eyes would probably turn green on the spot, saliva pouring out. He’d likely snatch the pen and scribble his signature at lightning speed, afraid that if he were even a second late, the cooked duck would fly away.

Heh…

That guy would do just about anything for money.

Thinking of this, the tightly drawn corners of Luo Shaotian’s mouth curved into an involuntary bitter smile.

But the smile didn’t last long.

When his gaze returned to those clauses, the instincts of a seasoned criminal investigator instantly put him on alert.

The traps hidden beneath the ornate wording were like venomous snakes concealed in the grass, flicking their tongues at him.

Party B shall unconditionally cooperate with Party A in all physiological testing
(including but not limited to non-invasive monitoring and minimally invasive sampling)…

Party B agrees to accept fully closed management during the term of this agreement, and to sever all unauthorized external contact…

Special notice regarding potential risks during experimental procedures, including genetic collapse, mental abnormalities, and force majeure-related death…

Every clause, every word, nakedly proclaimed—

This was not a job at all.

It was a gamble where survival was uncertain.

Heh…

Luo Shaotian closed the document and let out a cold laugh filled with irony.

As expected.

That one million wasn’t buying just his time.

It was buying his life.

So this was how big corporations operated?

Even when they were openly buying you with a price tag, they still did it so “respectably,” even draping it in a cloak of “legality and compliance.”

“…I need some time to think.”

Luo Shaotian closed the document and pushed it back to the center of the table.

In truth, he knew very well that he had no real choice.

But as a criminal investigator who had battled criminals for years, instinct told him that he must never reveal his bottom line at the very first moment.

Even in a dead end, he had to fight for even the tiniest sliver of leverage.

“Of course. That is your right.”

The smile on Guangu Jun’s face didn’t change at all, as if he had anticipated this outcome.

“However, while you are giving it careful consideration, perhaps we could chat about something a little simpler first? For example—”

He took a recorder out of his chest pocket and gently pressed it.

A red light lit up.

“As the core sample of this research, we are very curious…”

“How exactly did the initial contamination occur?”

…

Luo Shaotian fell silent for a moment, then finally let out a sigh.

Since he had already been stripped bare, there was nothing left to hide.

“…It was probably a few months ago.”

He leaned back, staring at the pale ceiling as his thoughts drifted back to that night that changed his fate.

“At that abandoned cannery owned by Huaxia Heavy Industries…”

“A close friend of mine got into a conflict with the Akagi Gang.”

“Later, one of your company’s magical girls fought with the Akagi Gang.”

“While covering for her, I was accidentally injured… and that’s how I got contaminated.”

“And that girl… the magical girl who later saved me—Lulu.”

“I see…”

Guangu Jun nodded while rapidly taking notes on his tablet.

“Huaxia Heavy Industries’ abandoned cannery… fairy dust… plus this time’s exhibition center…”

He stopped writing, pushed up his glasses, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.

“By this calculation, Mr. Luo, this isn’t just striking twice—”

“You’ve survived three consecutive high-risk incidents already, haven’t you?”

“With luck like that… tsk tsk, it’d be a real waste not to buy lottery tickets.”

Guangu Jun sighed, his fingers habitually swiping across the screen as if to verify something.

“But… the magical girl you just mentioned—her name was Lulu?”

“Yes. Lulu.”

“Just a moment…”

Guangu Jun’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

He exited the recording interface and skillfully opened the company’s internal personnel management system—【Dawn Home】.

However, the spinning loading icon on the screen made his expression turn awkward.

“Tch… why a forced update at a time like this?”

He muttered irritably.

After the progress bar finally finished, he quickly entered the query command.

【Query Target: Lulu】

【System Prompt: Insufficient permissions. According to the revised “Dawn Home Confidentiality Agreement,” ordinary administrative personnel are not authorized to query magical girls’ real names. Please use a codename for search.】

“Huh?!”

Staring at the red pop-up window, Guangu Jun couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

“What the hell? I could check this yesterday! Director Bai’s new rules are being enforced way too fast, aren’t they? Even my permissions got downgraded?”

“What’s wrong?”

Watching the elite man across from him suddenly verge on frustration, a trace of doubt arose in Luo Shaotian’s heart.

“Ahem… nothing. Just a minor technical issue.”

Guangu Jun coughed awkwardly. To cover up the mistake, he reopened the surveillance video and attempted to identify people through the footage.

“It’s fine. I’m pretty good at recognizing faces… let me take a look…”

His finger pointed around the paused screen as he muttered to himself.

“Mm… this black-haired loli is the ace of District Team One… codename 【Obsidian】.”

“And this big-sister type with the shield… from the same sequence… can’t quite remember the name, but she should also be from District Team One.”

“That pink twin-tailed foodie… yeah, that’s 【Red Fox】 for sure—the cafeteria’s bottomless pit.”

Finally, his finger stopped on the girl in a pink dress, lifting her long skirt.

“As for this one…”

Guangu Jun examined her for a long while. Then, after a moment, he slapped his thigh.

“Ah! I was wondering who it was! Isn’t this the one who’s been pretty popular inside the company lately…”

“The one with the special 【Void】 constitution—【Gray Crystal】!”

After saying that, he scratched his head in confusion and muttered softly.

“Strange… when did her name get changed to ‘Lulu’? Did she recently come up with a new stage name for debut or something?”

“What did you say?”

Luo Shaotian, who had been coldly observing from the side, suddenly stiffened.

He sat up straight, staring at Guangu Jun, his voice turning urgent.

“She wasn’t… originally called Lulu?”

“Uh…”

Guangu Jun was caught off guard by the sudden questioning.

Seeing Luo Shaotian’s expression, he immediately realized he might have let slip something he shouldn’t have.

Professional instinct made him shut his mouth at once, the standard fake smile returning to his face.

“Well… Mr. Luo, perhaps I remembered incorrectly, or different departments use different terms. You know how codenames are—always changing…”

“Stop trying to brush me off!”

Luo Shaotian slammed his palm on the table with a loud bang, making even the water cup tremble.

He stood up, his sharp eyes locking onto Guangu Jun.

“Your reaction just now was completely natural—you weren’t misremembering!”

“Lulu… isn’t her real name at all… is it?!”

“Mr. Luo, please calm down…”

Guangu Jun rubbed his temples with a headache.

“Regarding employees’ personal privacy, according to company regulations, I truly cannot disclose anything further. This falls outside the scope of our cooperation.”

“No! It matters!”

Luo Shaotian looked as if he had seized the last straw for survival—or the only key to the truth.

His breathing grew heavy, the red veins in his eyes spreading wildly.

If “Lulu” was a fake name—

If even that name was fake—

Then the things A-Yu had said…

That so-called “girlfriend”…

How much of it was real?!

“Listen!”

Luo Shaotian grabbed the contract from the table and slammed it hard against Guangu Jun’s chest.

“You want me to sign this contract selling myself, right? You want me to cooperate and be your lab rat, right? Fine!”

“I have only one condition!”

He pointed at the girl’s figure on the screen, his tone resolute.

“Tell me everything about this Gray Crystal!”

“Arrange for me to meet her alone—alone!”

“As long as you can do that…”

“I’ll sign this agreement. Right now.”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Night Has Fallen, Mafia—Send Your Text Messages

BLDramaModern

Read Now →
Not interested